engels at his best

I am currently evaluating The Condition of the Working Class in England by Friedrich Engels (1845) as a primary historical source from the 19th century. For those of you who are not familiar with Engels he co-wrote the Communist Manifesto with Marx (1848).

I don't agree with Engels's strict materialist view of history, which is limited exclusively to class conflict and competing modes of production, but I am still impressed by his ability to communicate his political agenda in such an explosive manner. (As it has been said his skills as a politician far outweight his abilities as a historian). Here is one fiery and polemic quote that illustrates his gift of inciting the working class proletariat against the middle-class/property-owning bourgeoisie:

"The vampire middle classes first suck the wretched workers dry so that afterwards they can, with consummate hypocrisy, throw a few miserable crumbs of charity at their feet."

One day, I hope to be able to communicate with that kind of intense passion and vivid imagry. One of the most impressive things about Engels is that he wrote The Condition of the Working Class in England at the age of 24!